April 17, 2008

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KENNESAW, Ga. - Freshman walk-on Ayano Tanaka became the first women's tennis player in Kennesaw State's Division I history to be given a conference award Thursday, after she was named to the 2007-08 Atlantic Sun Conference All-Freshman Team in a statement released by the conference office.

Tanaka is the first tennis player to earn such an award since the Owls joined the A-Sun two seasons ago. She joins Loraine Rosmuller (2001) and Greta Humbert (1999), who won All-Peach Belt selections when the Owls were members of the PBC, on the short list of KSU tennis award winners.

"This means a lot to me," said Tanaka on the award. "This is going to motivate me to work even harder to improve each and every year to help make Kennesaw State the best team in the Atlantic Sun."

She was 5-7 on the fall tournament circuit, earning her first collegiate win with a straight-set 6-0, 6-2 sweep of Lee's Kelli Miller in the consolation bracket of the UTC/Steve Baras Championship in September.

Her fall was highlighted by winning the "B" backdraw finals at the UNCW Invitational, where she swept all three of her opponents en route to the victory. She capped her win with a convincing 6-4, 6-2 defeat of East Tennessee State's Whitney Trotter in the final.

"I could not be prouder of Ayano's performance this season," said Kennesaw State head coach Brandon Padgett. "It is wonderful to see that the other coaches in the conference saw the talent that I get to see on an every day basis."

Tanaka led the team in both singles and doubles wins in the spring. She didn't take long to get her first dual match win, as she blanked Savannah State's No. 1 player, Angela Palmer 6-0, 6-0 to lead the Owls to their first win of the season. She put together her first winning streak of the season a week later, following up her win over Palmer with a 7-6, 7-6 defeat of UNC Asheville's Louise Bottomley at No. 2.

She earned her first A-Sun win in impressive fashion, dropping the A-Sun regular season champion's, USC Upstate, No. 2 player Emilia Milovanovich 6-3, 7-6 to secure the Owls lone point of the match.

After dropping a match to Campbell's No. 2 player, Tanaka won two straight conference matches, and three-straight overall to run her early spring record to 3-1 against the A-Sun and 6-4 overall.

She finished the season on a winning streak, sweeping Alabama State's Sheniece Rollins and North Carolina Central's Ashley Rogers at No. 1 in the last two matches of the season. She finished with a 9-9 dual match record, including a 6-4 mark at No. 1.

Tanaka also put together a solid doubles season, finishing 8-10 in the spring, playing the majority of her matches at No. 1. She teamed up with Mercedes Cobos to go 6-0 in the spring, including 4-0 versus conference opponents at the No. 1 position.

"Ayano works as hard as anyone on this team," added Padgett. "Her continued commitment to improving her game day in and day out has led to this outstanding honor."